Chennai, May 22
Following stern directives from the Madras High Court, authorities have initiated the removal of encroachments along the Adyar riverbank in Tamil Nadu's Anakaputhur, with plans to complete the process within a week.
The court had recently issued a three-month deadline to the Tamil Nadu government to eliminate all encroachments obstructing the Adyar River Restoration Project.
Responding to this, the Water Resources Department on Wednesday began demolishing illegal structures, including around 50 houses in Anakaputhur. Officials confirmed that this is the first phase of the eviction drive.
The removal will continue in downstream areas such as Thideer Nagar, Jyothi Ammal Nagar, Surya Nagar, and Malligaipoo Nagar in Saidapet and Kotturpuram in the coming weeks.
An official from the Water Resources Department stated, “We will proceed with the clearance, one neighbourhood at a time, as per the court’s directive. The project had been delayed for years due to the presence of these encroachments.”
The state’s Additional Advocate-General J. Ravindran informed the court that the encroachments had halted progress on the Adyar River Restoration Project -- a major initiative worth Rs 1,500 crore announced in three consecutive budgets since 2023.